Director, Solutions Architect - Legal, Risk & Compliance

Director, LRC Solutions Architect

This Architect role is focused on driving architecture strategy, roadmap development, and continuous evolution of TIAA's Legal, Risk & Compliance technology portfolio. The position involves defining capability maps, establishing reference architectures, and leading governance processes — partnering closely with Enterprise Architecture and business stakeholders to ensure all solutions align with company-wide standards and strategic objectives. A pivotal aspect of this role includes translating complex business requirements into scalable technical solutions, evaluating AI and automation opportunities — including GenAI and Agentic approaches — and guiding Build vs. Buy decisions to optimize cost, functionality, and time to value.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Architecture Strategy & Roadmap Drive the development and continuous evolution of the spanning Legal, Risk & Compliance, architecture roadmaps. Define capability maps that articulate current state, target state, and transformation pathways, while establishing reference architectures and design patterns that promote consistency, reusability, and scalability across the portfolio.
• Enterprise Alignment & Governance Partner with the Enterprise Architecture team to ensure Legal, Risk & Compliance Technology solutions align with company-wide architectural principles and standards. Lead architectural governance processes, represent the Legal, Risk & Compliance Functions Technology team in Technical Architecture Governance forums and the AI Center of Excellence, and ensure all solutions meet enterprise standards and strategic objectives.
• Stakeholder Collaboration & Business Translation Collaborate with business stakeholders across Legal, Risk & Compliance to translate business requirements into sound technical and architectural solutions. Influence without formal authority to drive best practices and standards adoption across diverse stakeholder groups in a fast-paced environment.
• Process Optimization & Capability Development Lead business process modeling and value stream analysis to identify optimization opportunities and support continuous improvement. Develop and maintain business capability models and maturity assessments to surface gaps, inform investment decisions, and support TIAA's evolution toward a product-centric operating model.
• Technology Selection & AI Enablement Define Build vs. Buy decision principles and technology selection criteria tailored to Corporate Technology needs. Prioritize evaluation of vendor AI solutions before committing to custom builds to optimize cost, functionality, and time to value. Recommend AI and automation solutions — including GenAI and Agentic approaches — to close identified automation gaps and advance the multiyear technology roadmap.
• Delivery Support & Documentation Provide architectural guidance, oversight, and governance throughout the project delivery lifecycle. Establish and maintain architectural documentation, standards, and guidelines that support consistent, scalable solution delivery.

Educational Requirements

• University (Degree) Preferred

Work Experience

• 8+ Years Required; 10+ Years Preferred

Career Level
10IC

Required Skills:

• 8+ years of progressive experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, or related technical leadership roles. 
• Experience in financial services
• Experience with cloud technologies, modern architecture patterns, and/or enterprise integration approaches.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 10+ years of progressive experience in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, or related technical leadership roles.
• Preference for experience in Legal, Risk & Compliance, Finance, or HR technology domains. 
• Proven track record of leading architectural initiatives in complex, regulated environments. 
• Experience with enterprise architecture tenants including Technical Debt Management, Application Lifecycle Management, Products Portfolio Management.
• Ability to influence without authority and drive consensus across diverse stakeholder groups in fast paced evolving environments. 
• Experience with Domain Driven Design, Data Mesh, AI, Gen AI, Agentic and capability-driven architecture methodologies.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with experience in executive stakeholder management. 
• Experience working in individual contributor roles while providing technical leadership across multiple teams. 

Anticipated Posting End Date:

Actual base salary may vary based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, time in role, base salary of internal peers, prior performance, business sector, and geographic location.  In addition to base salary, the competitive compensation package may include, depending on the role, participation in an incentive program linked to performance (for example, annual discretionary incentive programs, non-annual sales incentive plans, or other non-annual incentive plans). 

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Company Overview

Every worker deserves a secure retirement. For more than 100 years, TIAA has delivered it for millions of people. Founded to help educators retire with dignity, today weʼre a market-leading retirement company fueled by world-class asset management. But weʼre not just another legacy financial services firm. Weʼre fighting harder than ever before for our clients and the many Americans who need us.

Our Culture of Impact

At TIAA, we're on a mission to build on our 100+ year legacy of delivering for our clients while evolving to meet tomorrow's challenges. We equip our associates with future-focused skills and AI tools that enable us to advance our mission. Together, we are fighting to ensure a more secure financial future for all and for generations to come. We are guided by our values: Champion Our People, Be Client Obsessed, Lead with Integrity, Own It, and Win As One. They influence every decision we make and how we work together to serve our clients every day. We thrive in a collaborative in-office environment where teams work across organizational boundaries with shared purpose, accelerating innovation and delivering meaningful results. Our workplace brings together TIAA and Nuveen's entrepreneurial spirit, where we work hard and work together to create lasting impact. Here, every associate can grow through meaningful learning experiences and development pathways—because when our people succeed, our impact on clients' lives grows stronger.

Benefits and Total Rewards

The organization is committed to making financial well-being possible for its clients, and is equally committed to the well-being of our associates. That’s why we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package designed to make a positive difference in the lives of our associates and their loved ones. Our benefits include a superior retirement program and highly competitive health, wellness and work life offerings that can help you achieve and maintain your best possible physical, emotional and financial well-being. To learn more about your benefits, please review our Benefits Summary.

Equal Opportunity

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. TIAA does not discriminate against any candidate or employee on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, sex, religion, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other legally protected status.

Our full EEO & Non-Discrimination statement is on our careers home page, and you can read more about your rights and view government notices here.

Accessibility Support

TIAA offers support for those who need assistance with our online application process to provide an equal employment opportunity to all job seekers, including individuals with disabilities. 

If you are a U.S. applicant and desire a reasonable accommodation to complete a job application please use one of the below options to contact our accessibility support team: 

Phone: (800) 842-2755

Email: [email protected]

Drug and Smoking Policy

TIAA maintains a drug-free and smoke/free workplace.

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